Amitabha Buddhist Society, UK

Dear all,

Sorry my home PC is currently having its summer vacation and that forces me to write very brief non-work related emails at work.

1. Friends House, Euston Road

Please tell us the name of the account?

2) All, could we start the funding process rolling internally first? The funding currently stands at £0.00

3) Upasaka Seung Fei Kong is currently looking into setting up a charity website to make donation very easy. To be explored and discussed.[/i]

4. Visit of Ven Wu Shin (Bhikkhu)

Current Status: Ven Wu Shin (Bhikkhu) and his entourage will visit London from 6th – 9th July (next week). Ven Wu Shin is one of the most prominent students, if not the most, of Venerable Master Chin Kung and is the Executive Vice President of the Pure Land Learning College Association in Australia. He travels extensively in Malaysia/Singapore/USA and south America by invitation to teach so apart from seeing our progress in the organising he would like to give a dharma course to people wishing to know more about Buddhism, Pureland practice etc. It will be an excellent chance to warm ourselves up and get to know the organisation, the practice better.

Action:

1) KCT suggest a dinner at somewhere (Mr Kong at Chinatown?) for the organising members to welcome him and discuss the organising of the events.

Everyone, please tell me if you are able to turn up and if so which evening (6th or 7th) is a better choice for you.

2) Ven Wu Shin suggest a place which can hold 100~300 people for the Dharma talk on Sunday (9th), since it is precious to have such a prominent Dharma teacher coming to guide us during this time and we are extremely grateful for his offer.

3) Everyone, have you got any suggestions, since I don’t have any idea with regards to a suitable venue.

4) How do we advertise the news of the teachings?

5. Inter-tradition Dialogue

Current Status: General consensus = very meaningful. However we have a problem with venue as ABS UK currently do not have a centre.

Action:

1) We could wait for the right conditions for a centre.

2) Everyone, is there any other alternative or suggestions?

6. Involvement of Politician/Royal Family

Current Status: Not sure if we have any reasons for inviting unless we have the inter-tradition/inter-faith dialogue, inauguration of a centre, or a book launch event?

7. Establishments of working groups

Current Status: Once the invitation has been confirmed we need to establish the Publicity and Ticketing working groups to start work.

Action:

1) Any taker to work on the Publicity? Need to work on the posters for the two public talks on the 12th and 13th first. Any designer or artist that is willing to put in some time to design the poster? We also need to design the tickets (non seating arrangement but with numbers – 1172 for Friends House for example)

2) Upasaka Vincent, Upasaka Seung Fei and Upasaka Winston, can you try pull ideas together to design the front page of the website to advertise the two public events? Could you also advertise recruitment for volunteers?

8. Addresses

Current Status: Thank you Poon Sheng for bringing up the issue and the valuable input. There are two levels to the discussions, a practical (phenomenal) one and an absolute one.

Action:

1) For recognisation and connection purposes we should use Bhikkhu/Bhikkhuni and Upasaka/Upasika for all formal correspondence with other Buddhist organisations.

2) For governmental/official correspondence I suggest we adapt as appropriately to get the message across in a most effective way. I would personally use Mr Tang for myself rather than Upasaka Tang if I am writing a letter to the press.

3) For private correspondence we should use any title, or without any (the initiator and responder) deemed comfortable and suitable.

Personal comment: I am not in any position to teach anyone what to do, which implies that I know what is right or what is wrong for you. Title has elements of religious/cultural/social so the genuine brotherhood/sisterhood/familyhood that we develop and share for every sentient beings is the true reflection of our cultivation of compassion and wisdom. On the absolute level we are not only brothers and sisters we all are fathers and mothers to one another! Personally I am called many different names or title so I am comfortable with any as long as I know you are communicating with me.

Sorry for the long email but I hope you agree with me that the real work ONLY now begins! So may us all apply the Dharma teaching. Let us all acknowledge and appreciate the good effort and help of others, accept and rejoice in the differences of personality and opinion everyone of us have. It is not the uniformity but the harmonious co-existence that make the natural world (Dharma) beautiful.

Please reply and make suggestion to any of the points above.

Amitabha and with metta,
KC Tang

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Dear all,

Sister Yiren and Bro Jian Tu had a good discussion with Ven Wu Shin the other day and below is the summary and the work we need to carry out NOW.

1. Ven Master Chin Kung can confirm the dates of his visit, which is from 11 Oct to 14 Oct, providing we can make the following arrangements:

Action: Cheer!!!

2. We have to send Master a letter of invitation so UK visa for Master Chin Kung and his entourage can be submitted and finalised.

Action: KC Tang to draft but everyone please help to correct my sub-standard command of English.

3. Sister Yiren and Bro Jian Tu have also spoken to Bro Li, director of Buddhist Education Foundation UK so the BEF UK will be the official charity organisation issuing the invitation and handling all formal correspondence. All donations for the events will be issued with BEF UK receipts and a special fund will be set up within BEF UK to handle this.

Action: A big thank you to BEF (UK)!!!

4. However in order for me to draft the invitation, we will need to finalise the events (at least the two evening talks on the 12 and 13 Oct) for which we invite Master Chin Kung for.

Action:

• a) I have not got the final green light from SOAS yet but I am happy to proceed without their agreement to co-host the events at this stage, as the letter is only to facilitate their visa application and confirm their visit to the UK. I will continue to work on SOAS.
• b) Can ULUBUDA host one evening so we get free venue for the talk at London Universities? Of course unofficially ABS UK will be fully supporting the event, including all expenses incurred during the event? I was told that Logan Hall at Institute of Education was still available on the evening of 13 Oct, can ULUBUDA secure the booking, if ULUBUDA agree to host the event? If Logan Hall is available on the evening of 12 Oct this WOULD BE the best option.
• c) With the money saved we could then hire another venue for the other evening, even if it is on full commercial rate. If Logan Hall is only available on the 13 Oct then we would take Camden Centre for the 12 Oct. If Logan Hall is available on the 12 Oct then we would book Friends House for the 13 Oct as it is more cost-effectively and centrally located but unavailable on the 12 Oct.

We can proceed with Friends House or Camden Centre ourselves (ABS and BEF UK) immediately but we would need a reply from ULUBUDA so could ULUBUDA hold an emergency ex-co committee ASAP, and if it is favourable, secure the venue before Monday/Tuesday?

5. Also from the last meeting at Barbican Centre and feedback from organizing members it looks like an inter-tradition dialogue is much needed and beneficial to all so let us all work on this ground and see if the conditions are ripened for this to materialise. Poon Sheng made a very suggestion that we could use the opportunity to launch ABS UK and get it and its work known amongst the different traditions.

Action: We (ABS UK) have not got a centre yet so we will need a place for the dialogue. It will be one of the morning engagements. Would London Buddhist Society be a good place for the event? It has got all the historical significance so it stands up in my mind. We can also prepare a dana offering to all the Sangha members so it would be very meaningful and attractive.

Please feel free to comment by replying to the above email address. It would help if you indicate the item number for your comments.

I apologise if I sound too overassertive or rude due to the urgency of the matters.

May you be well and joyous.

Amitabha and with metta,
KC Tang

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Please find attached the minutes of the meeting on the 18 June. It is in draft form so please feedback if you have anything to add/comment.

Minutes 18 June 2006_English.pdf

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Dear venerables, brothers and sisters in the Dharma,

Amitabha and may you be well and joyous.

Since our first meeting with Ven Wu Shin last Tuesday 6 June 2006 we have made some progress on the planning of Ven Master’s visit and the establishment of Amitabha Buddhist Society London. Please find attached the progress summary detailing where we are at the moment. I am being updated with different news from time to time so it is also valid up to 5pm today 16 June 2006.

We are going to hold the first public meeting this Sunday 18 June 2006 at the Barbican Centre. Everyone interested to help out and organise is welcome. For those who would like to come to the meeting please note that we will meet beside the lake in the centre at 2.00pm. The following links show the direction to and location of Barbican Centre:

Barbican Centre Vistor Information
Street Map

There are still a lot of organising to do and many volunteers we need to recruit. Let us work together with a pure and sincere heart.

The offering of Dharma is the greatest offering of all.

May the journey bring joy and deeper understanding of the teachings to all.

With metta,
Kok-Cheong (KC) Tang, PhD, BEng
On behalf of the Ad-Hoc Committee for the Amitabha Buddhist Society, London, UK

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Updates16June2006.pdf

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Dear brothers and sisters in the Dharma,

On behalf of the Ad-Hoc Committee of the UK Amitabha Buddhist Society I would like to bring you some good news for Buddhists and anyone interested in the peaceful and harmonious teachings of the Buddha.

First of all, Venerable Master Chin Kung (淨空法師), the world’s most revered monk from the Mahayana Pureland School, is visiting London from 10 – 13 October 2006, to engage in a series of public discourses and dialogues. Secondly an Amitabha Buddhist Society is to be established here in London, UK.

For information on Ven Master Chin Kung, Amitabha Buddhist Society’s background/guidelines, and his teachings you may invite the following websites.

• http://www.chinkung.org/ (English)
• http://www.amtb.org.tw/ (中文)

Ven Wu Shin from Pureland Learning College of Australia was here on the 6 June 2006 and a few of us discussed the above issues with him. Please find attached the minutes (English and Chinese) of the informal meeting which covers the various issues related to Master’s visit and the establishment of the society.

Amitabha Buddhist Society does not belong to any individual but to people who share the same interest to study and practise the Buddha’s teachings through education. In view of this we would like to invite you to a public meeting on the 18 June 2006 to discuss the progress and volunteering in welcoming Master to London and establishing the Amitabha Buddhist Society here in the UK. Could you also please kindly forward this email to Buddhist relatives or friends that may be interested? Thank you very much.

• Date: 18 June 2006
• Time: 2.00 p.m.
• Venue: Meet outside Barbican Centre (Nearest tube: Moorgate or Barbican tube station)

Should you have any further query please feel free to contact myself or any of the following volunteers:

1. Bro Jian Tu or Sister Yiren (Tel no: 07940-890350, email: jtu@talk21.com)
2. Margaret (Tel no: 07788-131928, email: margyap72@yahoo.co.uk)
3. Bro Tian Hau – Mandarin or Cantonese (Tel no: 07748-563910)

We hope to see you there.

Amitabha and may the Triple Gems bless you always.

With metta,

Kok-Cheong (KC) Tang, PhD, BEng

On behalf of the Ad-Hoc Committee for the Amitabha Buddhist Society, UK

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Minutes 06 June 2006 _Chinese.pdf
Minutes 06 June 2006 _English.pdf

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